{"id":95902,"date":"2009-07-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-07-22T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2009\/07\/22\/about-us-methodology\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T04:13:50","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T09:13:50","slug":"about-us-methodology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2009\/07\/22\/about-us-methodology\/","title":{"rendered":"About Us, Methodology"},"content":{"rendered":"

About the Pew Research Center\u2019s Internet & American Life Project<\/h3>\n\n

The Pew Internet Project is an initiative of the Pew Research Center, a nonprofit \u201cfact tank\u201d that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. The Pew Internet Project explores the impact of the internet on children, families, communities, the work place, schools, health care and civic\/political life.\u00a0 The Project is nonpartisan and takes no position on policy issues. Support for the Project is provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts. More information is available at www.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Methodology<\/h3>\n\n

This report is based on the findings of a daily tracking survey on Americans’ use of the Internet. The results in this report are based on data from telephone interviews conducted by Princeton Survey Research International between March 26 to April 19, 2009, among a sample of 2,253 adults, 18 and older.\u00a0 For results based on the total sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 2.4 <\/b>percentage points.\u00a0 For results based Internet users (n=1,687), the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.\u00a0 In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting telephone surveys may introduce some error or bias into the findings of opinion polls.<\/p>\n\n

A combination of landline and cellular random digit dial (RDD) samples was used to represent all adults in the continental United States who have access to either a landline or cellular telephone. Both samples were provided by Survey Sampling International, LLC (SSI) according to PSRAI specifications.\u00a0 Numbers for the landline sample were selected with probabilities in proportion to their share of listed telephone households from active blocks (area code + exchange + two-digit block number) that contained three or more residential directory listings. The cellular sample was not list-assisted, but was drawn through a systematic sampling from dedicated wireless 100-blocks and shared service 100-blocks with no directory-listed landline numbers.<\/p>\n\n

New sample was released daily and was kept in the field for at least five days. The sample was released in replicates, which are representative subsamples of the larger population. This ensures that complete call procedures were followed for the entire sample.\u00a0 At least 5 attempts were made to complete an interview at sampled telephone number. The calls were staggered over times of day and days of the week to maximize the chances of making contact with a potential respondent. Each number received at least one daytime call in an attempt to find someone available.\u00a0 For the landline sample, interviewers asked to speak with the youngest male currently at home. If no male was available, interviewers asked to speak with the youngest female at home. This systematic respondent selection technique has been shown to produce samples that closely mirror the population in terms of age and gender.\u00a0 For the cellular sample, interviews were conducted with the person who answered the phone. Interviewers verified that the person was an adult and in a safe place before administering the survey. Cellular sample respondents were offered a post-paid cash incentive for their participation. All interviews completed on any given day were considered to be the final sample for that day.<\/p>\n\n

Non-response in telephone interviews produces some known biases in survey-derived estimates because participation tends to vary for different subgroups of the population, and these subgroups are likely to vary also on questions of substantive interest. In order to compensate for these known biases, the sample data are weighted in analysis. The demographic weighting parameters are derived from a special analysis of the most recently available Census Bureau\u2019s March 2008 Annual Social and Economic Supplement. This analysis produces population parameters for the demographic characteristics of adults age 18 or older. These parameters are then compared with the sample characteristics to construct sample weights. The weights are derived using an iterative technique that simultaneously balances the distribution of all weighting parameters.<\/p>\n\n

Following is the full disposition of all sampled telephone numbers:<\/p>\n\n

\"methodology\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n\n

The disposition reports all of the sampled telephone numbers ever dialed from the original telephone number samples. The response rate estimates the fraction of all eligible respondents in the sample that were ultimately interviewed. At PSRAI it is calculated by taking the product of three component rates:<\/p>\n\n

    \n
  • Contact rate \u2013 the proportion of working numbers where a request for interview was made<\/li>\n
  • Cooperation rate \u2013 the proportion of contacted numbers where a consent for interview was at least initially obtained, versus those refused<\/li>\n
  • Completion rate \u2013 the proportion of initially cooperating and eligible interviews that were completed<\/li>\n
  • Thus the response rate for the landline sample was 20.6 percent. The response rate for the cellular sample was 18.2 percent.<\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    About the Pew Research Center\u2019s Internet & American Life Project The Pew Internet Project is an initiative of the Pew Research Center, a nonprofit \u201cfact tank\u201d that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. The Pew Internet Project explores the impact of the internet on children, families, communities, the 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